Capital Campaign for the IACS Community Center at Kent, WA

Indian American Community Services (IACS) is currently in the process of creating the first-ever community center in WA state for the Indian American immigrant refugee community dedicated to addressing basic and urgent needs.

We are excited to share that the IACS has secured a physical location in Kent, WA for the IACS Community Center.

As our community continues to grow, so does their need for support and upliftment. Having an accessible and easily available physical space that can serve community members with an inclusive approach is a critical, urgent need and IACS hopes to fulfil this need.

We believe having a permanent physical presence will allow us to exponentially scale our impact and reach while our work across King County (Bellevue, Bothell, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, Snoqualmie) will continue to strengthen our efforts in ensuring community needs are identified and addressed. There is still a lot of work needed to get the center ready to go LIVE but we wanted to share this milestone and invite you to support our journey.

IACS is conducting a capital campaign for the IACS Community Center and our annual signature fundraiser – MILAN is being held on March 25th, 2023, to raise the much-needed financial resources. With the generous support of our donors & followers at Milan 2023, we hope to create a well-planned physical space that will be an anchor in the community.

We, the Indian American Community Services (IACS), denounce the ongoing discrimination and violence against the black community in the United States. We are deeply sorry for our years of apathy and silence on this matter until now. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 - allowing our immigrant community, along with many other black and brown immigrants into the United States - was created because of the civil rights movement fought for by the black community. We have a responsibility and a duty to be better allies to the black community by actively working to end this pandemic of racism and continuously affirming that Black Lives Matter. In the coming weeks and months, we urge every member of our community to self-educate, reflect on, help combat the daily deep-rooted racism and discrimination that the black community faces. We hope that every member of our community recognizes and does not forget the fear, pain and outrage rightly provoked by the senseless killing of George Floyd (and many others).

We commit to looking inward to address our own biases around race, religion, caste, class, and color while pushing for reparations and integration. We pledge to advocate for a system where reparation would involve an official apology for centuries of slavery and discrimination, and the money necessary to overcome their effects.

Investing reparation funds into traditionally black, often diverse neighborhoods, through social innovations, community housing, family and support services, transportation, education, K-12 education savings accounts and after-school programs vs. providing additional investments into law enforcement programs is critical. To start, we will work with our peers in our black communities to ensure that we support COVID-19 emergency assistance needs for small businesses and families as a collaborative effort, while continuing to self-examine and educate ourselves.

While many may look for a return to normalcy, George Floyd's death (and those of countless other Black Americans before him) is evidence enough that we do not wish for this "normalcy”. Intense, daily work will be needed to keep supporting and advocating for our Black community in pursuit of justice and equality. We commit to following our Black leaders charge in this work and urge you to join us in this movement.